WHO'S THAT IN YOUR CLOSET KAY CLEM?

Livin in Vero Beach is like livin in East Berlin before they took down that big ole wall. Yup, hard to believe kids, but Miss Vero was actually once in East Berlin at that time, so we know what we're talkin about. When we were driving home Tuesday night after the election was called, there weren't a sole on the streets. If y'all listened real close, y'all could have heard the audible groans and cuss words rising up out all the Republican homes. While the rest of the country and the world, for that matter were jumpin for joy, Indian River County stayed in behind it's conservative curtain.

Now y'all would think that winning a local election would be good enough for some folks, but no, that ain't the case with Miss Kay Clem. She decided to file a complaint against her opponent Mr. Colman Stewart. Why? Dunno, we guess it's like that joke our ole friend George Wallace used to tell - the best time to kick a man is when he's down, cause he's already right there by your shoe!

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/nov/05/clem-files-elections-complaint-against-ex-opponent/



It's pretty clear that Miss Clem had it out for Mr. Stewart, especially when he started callin her out on all the "discrepancies" in her office. So, not to be outdone, she was successful in digging up some "damaging information" on him. And that kids, is what Miss Vero would really like to know. How does someone, who's running for an office (that should definitely be bi-partisan) in a county (that's definitely partisan) find out about their opponents indiscretions? Do you hire an investigator? A seasoned political strategist or maybe a company that specializes in the Tao of Rove? Shouldn't that job belong to a "newspaper" with "real journalists" that would look into each candidates claims? Oh wait a minute, what are we thinkin?



Well hunnies, today let Miss Vero tell y'all a story about an interesting, yet mysterious woman named Jackie.

Miss Jackie is a very passionate woman who has dedicated herself to many political causes, that she whole heatedly believes in, here's just a little sample of how busy Miss Jackie is:

Like the saving our waterfronts in Indian River and St. Lucie counties: http://www.saveourwaterfronts.org/indianriver-stlucie.html
Where she lists her address at 745 Bougainvillea Lane Vero Beach, FL 32963.

And her interest in the early voting procedure of the town of Jupiter ( see page 5):
http://www.jupiter.fl.us/Agendas/TownCouncil/upload/m010405.pdf
Where her address at that time was "withheld pursuant to Florida Statute".

And in punishing people who don't share her beliefs in Orlando: Jacqueline D'Heere (561)756-6480. Paid political advertisement paid for and sponsored by Florida4Marriage.org. 4853 South Orange Avenue, Suite C, Orlando
http://www.yes2marriage.org/

And she's also listed as a contact in Southwest Florida for Florida "Family" policy: http://www.flfamily.org/ffpcnew3.php?alertid=247
South West Region (Charlotte, Collier, Desoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Lee, Manatee, Sarasota) Jacqueline D'Heere 561-716-4384

And, as the Program Chair of the Contemporary Federated Republican Women's Club of Boca Raton:
http://www.lisamacci.com/cfrwc/0706newsletter.pdf

And also, as the sole person owing South Coast Consulting in Boca and Pachyderm Communications. (Pachyderm as in G.O.P.? How cute!) also in Boca:
http://www.sunbiz.org/scripts/corofflis.exe

Yup, Miss Jacqueline D'Heere is a very busy young lady, but where would someone who is only 23 years old, learn all about the political process and become so well connected?

Well, what if you were to inherit a fortune, but weren't going to be able to receive it for sometime. Do y'all think that some caring and loving family might take you in? Yes? Well that's exactly what happened to Miss Jackie! She was taken in by the lovely McCarty family, who took poor little Miss Jackie in and tutored her in everythin Republican! Now we're just sure that they had her best interests at heart and that ole money didn't mean a thing!

We wish that was the end of the story, but hunnies it was only the beginning! Things didn't turn out so well with Miss Jackie and her new "family". Something real bad musta went down, because Miss Jackie decided to turn her "adopted mother", Palm Beach county Commissioner Mary McCarty into the FBI! : http://g2.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/jose/entries/2008/09/27/mccartys_surrogate_daughter_ta.html
Oh my.

Ok hunnies, are y'all still with us? Cause here's the good part. There is a happy ending to the story of Miss Jackie after all. After she ratted out her corrupt Republican family, she found a home with a new "adopted mother" and a good Republican family, right here in Vero Beach! And Miss Vero, as we're sure all of y'all do, hope that this family takes exceptional care of her. Yes, Miss Jackie now resides at 1855 34th Ave., which just happens to be the home of Miss Carole Jean Jordan! (Really, y'all can look it up in the phone book!)

It's also the address that she used for her expense reports, so that Miss Kay Clem knew where to send the $14, 000.00+ in fees and expenses, since May 2008, for "consulting":
https://www.voterfocus.com/ws/WScand/candidate_pr.php?op=rp_all&e=7&c=indian&ca=126&cname=Kay%20Clem&coffice=Supervisor%20of%20Elections&rellevel=4

Thank goodness she found a job in Vero and Miss Jackie must be very good at what she does, because Miss Clem had already paid Idea Garden $3,610.98 for consulting and web support.

And the Press Journal, didn't they have any interest in Miss Clem's expenses? Maybe they were too busy collecting the $ 12,138.55 for advertising to notice.

Hmm, y'all know why Miss Vero's favorite subject was math? 'Cause numbers don't lie!


MWAH!


missvero@live.com

P.S.

Now before y'all go tear each other to shreds, let's just all agree on three things.

#1 That, had not Mr. Stewart posed a genuine threat to Miss Clem's position and cushy six figure job by methodically detailing and bringing to light legitimate faults of her office, Miss Clem would never have to had rely on Republican cronies and high priced dirt diggers to save her piece of the pie.

#2 That, had been Mr. Stewart been honest about his finances and business losses, he would have been able to save the reputation of the legitimate candidacy that he had successfully built up until that point.

#3 AND MOST IMPORTANT. If the Press Journal had done their job as a news reporting organization and had thoroughly researched and presented the triumphs and failures of both candidates in an unbiased manner, we all won't be scratching each others eyes out over this. How nice would it have been, to have been able to make an informed decision.

Miss Vero is not suggesting anything other than for everyone to do their job. Honestly.

MWAH!

LOST THE BATTLE, WON THE WAR!

Local Dems Neil Arbarbanell, Colman Stewart and Cathy Hart celebrate a good run, even after hearing the news that the Greedy Ole Party still controls Indian River County. Dr. Arbarbanell, as a Democrat, managed to pick up 35% of the vote against Mrs. Mayfield, who inherited the seat with a blessing from the G.O.P. After that impressive showing, we have a good feeling that the good Doctor will return again to make a "house call".

Why did John McCain lose? Could it be that the "Real America" (as Sarah Palin put it) is really just a bunch of old, tired, set in their way, intolerant, pasty people?

Sometimes staying the course is not such a good idea.

Or maybe, he just picked the wrong Palin.

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

HOLD THAT ELEPHANT

Yesterday, our friend Mr. Max Newport, who described himself as "...somewhat conservative and a Republican" graciously gave us his thoughts and predictions for today's election. Well buckle up today kids, cause Miss Vero will be takin y'all on a little trip to Liberal Land!

Miss Vero's Predictions and More! (mostly More!)

Let's start at the top, the race for President. This race might turn out to be closer than we think. Our first prediction is that there will be election discrepancies, although we sincerely hope none as monumental as in 2000.


Mr. Obama has been steady and cool throughout his campaign and will "hopefully" win. Most folks who have taken their blinders off are a little tired of the current regime of the Greedy Ole Party and wished they could have put the brakes on this train before it became the embarrassing wreck that it is.

It is sad to see the one time independent and respected Mr. McCain turn into a pandering, feisty ole gramps character. We believe his downfall began with his ill advised choice of running mate who definitely put the "ick" in his maverick.

This election really got everyone motivated. Finally. And there sure are a lot of passionate people out there, some in a good way, some not so good. Take, for example, our own little county. The TCPalm has a video showing a group of folks enthusiastically cloggin up the intersection of 58th and 60 this past weekend, which Miss Vero happened to pass through on our way to purchase alkeehol and other supplies.

Here is a photo of the hate fest of rumor mongers, that somehow didn't make the little TCPalm video:

So here's the thing, the crazy Christians - and y'all know who you are - need to knock off the very un-Christian way of hating anyone that doesn't agree with you. We are pretty darn sure that Mr. Obama is not a Muslim, but even if he were, he would have just as much right to be president.

According to the United States Constitution;
Section 1 of Article 2 states that a President must:
Be a natural born citizen of the United States.
Be at least 35 years old.
Have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years.

Nothing about gender, sexual orientation, race or religion, so that means that Jews, Atheists, Homosexuals, Scientologists, Women, Lesbian woman, Transvestites, Hindus and yes even a Muslim could be President! Hard to imagine since we all just hate those Muslims so much! Maybe even a little more than we used to hate those Japanese who bombed us, so we rounded them all up and put then in confinement camps, till it was safe to let them out. Now they sell us really great SONY products.

Not all Muslims are bad, not all Christians are good.

Another fine example of the hate fest is amendment #2, y'all know that bull about protectin marriage, which by the way, doesn't need any protection? This is just a hateful agenda to deny people basic human rights.

Why is it, that any heterosexual person can run off to Las Vegas, pick up a stranger in a bar and within a few hours be married and have every right associated with that contract, but two people of the same sex who live together for decades are denied a civil union? Marriage is a contract between two people. Period. If y'all want to add some magical, your God approved, happily ever after addendum to that contract, fine. But don't deny other people the right to be as happy or as miserable as y'all are.

Let's hope that Mr. Charlie Wilson who lined himself up with conservative values and unfairly labelled and attacked Miss Claudia Jimenez in the race for School Board, will not be celebrating his victory tomorrow. Let's also take a moment to remember the success of conservative abstinence programs:

Of course the Republicans in Indian River County will have a lot to celebrate. It's not even worth mentioning the County Commission race, which was pretty much settled in the primary election. But we gotta say, watchin ole Gary Wheeler try to get behind Brian Heady is like watchin somebody tryin to tame a squirrel.

As far as the City of Vero goes, we believe young Mr. Kevin Sawnick is well on his way to grabbin a seat and Mayor Tom White might not make it this time around. Especially since the top story on the VeroBeach32963 web site for the past month is an announcement of Mayor White's demise. And what's with VB32963's site anyway? We had hoped for a little more web presence by now and not the random infrequent offerings that have left us disappointed. Also, we would like to see the online edition updated. More VB32963, please.

Our one prediction to watch out for - After Mrs. Mayfeild receives her compensation package, um, we mean wins the State representative race, look for an early exit. Perhaps "personal" reasons will require that she step down and who better to come to the rescue than good ole Charlie Sembler.

And of course, no local election comments would be complete without the mentioning the Miss Kay Clem and Mr. Coleman Stewart race for Supervisor of Elections.

Here's the big question - Who gets the Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism? That's right, who at the PJ was savy enough to dig up those records of Mr. Stewart for Miss Clem to air out on her clothes line? Since nobody at the PJ is claimin any credit, how much did it cost to hire the investigator (and where did the money come from) to put together that package? Now, Miss Vero is not sayin that Mr. Stewart's financial records are not somethin to be concerned about, but given that, should we also not be concerned with the many discrepancies of Miss Clem's record in office and the win at all costs way that her campaign was conducted? And somebody please kill that rumor right now that Miss Vero is dating someone from Mr. Stewart's campaign just because we supported this candidate.

The only thing that we really care about concerning the Supervisor of Elections is that they don't screw up the voting process. Again.

And finally...

The biggest question of all - Where's the party? Any election parties that Miss Vero should know about? And yes, we know we'll have to crash it, since we've just succeed in thoroughly annoying 90% of the population of Indian River County. Oh well...

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

P.S. Y'all will notice that we took down ole Rhett Palmer's video on election day and replaced it with the NYT crossword puzzle. Dr. John said if he could get a crossword puzzle online, he'd cancel his subscribtion to the PJ and as always, we're happy to help!

MAX ON MONDAY!

Political lip sparring in Indian River County goes way back, just take a look at this vintage postcard from McKee, that Miss Vero dug up. And speaking of going way back, we are turning over today's post to someone who has been in town long enough to know ( not like someone who just blew into town and collects drops of wisdom from a Midwestern coffee chain restaurant). Yes that's right kids, Miss Vero is delighted, once again, to post favorite Beach House guest, Mr. Max Newport, who has been kind enough to put together his predictions for tomorrow's election.


DOWN TO THE WIRE - NOVEMBER 3RD, 2008
Max Newport

Here are a couple of Newports to puff on while we are waiting for . . . whoa!!! Just kidding folks. Only a moron would advocate taking up such a nasty habit. Max Newport is not a moron.

I want to thank Miss Vero for publishing my ramblings last week. It was nice to dust off the old Underwood typewriter and do some writing for the hippest site on the triple W.

As a lifelong resident of Vero Beach, Miss Vero has asked me to analyze the election and give my impression of the possible outcome. It should be no mystery at this point that I am somewhat conservative and a Republican. With those cards on the table, let’s take a look at the ballot.

PRESIDENT: There are quite a few folks on the ballot for this race that I have never heard of. Chuck Baldwin, for instance. I don’t see a lot of votes going Chuck’s way, although that is a pretty cool name for a candidate or a college quarterback. Is he one of the Baldwin brothers? Indian River is consistently a red county in presidential elections. Obama will get a good showing but the county will go for McCain.

CONGRESS: Bill Posey will win. It was pretty clear that he had strong support when very viable Republicans chose not to run against him in the primary. I’ve seen a couple of signs on the road for Stephen Blythe but I don’t see a Democrat replacing Dave Weldon, who was one of the most conservative members of Congress.

PUBLIC DEFENDER: This would have been a good race to put under the microscope because there are some real issues. Ms. Litty has had some problems with two lawsuits involving sexual harassment and the sudden disappearance of Edward J. Abare, who was in charge of the Vero Beach office and also the alleged harasser. She is married to Judge Tom Walsh in Fort Pierce and has received some criticism for seeking jail expansion rather than trying to work out deals for her clients. Chinquina is a relatively new attorney but is professional and competent. He has run a rather limited campaign. It is difficult to focus on the complexities of the issues in a 30 second television spot. Someone might be able to beat Diamond Litty, but it won’t be Don Chinquina in spite of a strong endorsement from the Palm Beach Post. Diamond should win handily.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Debbie Mayfield has a lock on this. She has no experience but has the support and respect of the backers of her late husband, Stan. Neal Abarbanell is a total unknown. Mayfield should win on name recognition alone. Ralph Poppell is doing a good job. The fact that I think he is a good guy and I didn’t know he had opposition until I saw the ballot, makes him the logical choice to win, although, a good portion of his district is in Brevard County and that is a different world up there.

CLERK OF COURT: Brian Burkeen is a good person and would probably do a good job as clerk, however he cannot articulate anything Jeff Barton is doing or not doing that he would do differently. Brian has served as mayor of Sebastian and has been very effective supervising emergency medical services. His only chip is that it is time for a change. Although Jeff Barton has held the job for 20 years, he is doing a good job. It is doubtful the voters will want change simply for the sake of change.

SHERIFF: Deryl Loar will win easily. I don’t recall the state attorney, Bruce Colton, ever endorsing a candidate in any previous election. That has to help, even though I think it was a lock before the endorsement. David Snell is a former Indian River County deputy. He was either the pilot of the helicopter or the guy that rode with the pilot. Either way, he always wore a flight suit. After talking to him, I don’t know why he wants to be sheriff. He should pick up some votes based upon the expected heavy Democrat turnout. Tony Consalo is a very earnest, hardworking and honest officer and an ear to ground indicates some support for him from current department personnel who are hesitant to endorse change, but that will not be enough. Loar in a landslide.

COUNTY COMMISSION: There is no need to waste words here. Bob Solari will pound Brian Heady. Wesley Davis will get 99.9 percent of the vote if the voters can remember the name of his write-in opponent. 100 percent if they don’t. Memo to Sandra Bowden . . .you have done an excellent job as a commissioner. You killed your political career with the Gloria Estefan thing. But for that faux pas, you would be beating Brian Heady.

APPELLATE JUDGES: They are always retained no matter what. Justice Charles Wells actually made the Florida Supreme Court look somewhat sane during the 2000 presidential election. He even came across well as portrayed in the movie “Recount”. It doesn’t matter how you vote, appellate judges are always retained. In order to be an informed voter, one would have to actually read some of their legal opinions and most folks just don’t have time for that.

CIRCUIT JUDGE: Judge Geiger has been an excellent judge and has been on the bench since Jimmy Carter was in the White House. For some reason he thought it would be cool to retire and grow coffee in Hawaii. He changed his mind and decided he wanted to be a judge again. He has been one of our better judges. His only negative is that his is 64 years old. Fran Ross has been a criminal defense attorney for 20 years. I just don’t think she would be a good judge. She is far too liberal and tends to sympathize with the criminals, but that is a common trait for defense attorneys. Sorry Fran, but Max picks Judge Geiger to get back on the bench. Geiger will sweep Martin and Okeechobee counties. Fran will do well in Indian River and St. Lucie but at the end of the day, Geiger will have more votes.

SCHOOL BOARD: Max does not know either Claudia Jiminez or Charlie Wilson and will admit ignorance when it exists. I guess I can toss a coin, but then again, so can you. I have no idea who will win this race.

SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS: I saved this one for last because it seems to have the most local interest. There are so many variables in this race that it is impossible to predict what will happen. In all candor, Max has known Kay Clem for a while and I will admit a bias in her favor. Max does not know Colman Stewart but has had some contact with Cathy Hart over the years. If the race were strictly between Clem and Stewart, Clem would win easily. Stewart has emerged in the past few weeks as a possible shady character with a distorted past with name changes and false official documents. The false information on the financial disclosure form could warrant criminal charges. U.S. Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska was convicted last week for providing false information on his financial disclosure form. The main thing Stewart has going for him is that he is not Kay Clem. Clem has made some mistakes, which she has owned up to. People that actually do work, make mistakes. A good worker can do 100 things a day and get 95 of them right, yet all you will hear about are the five that were flubbed. She has been attacked viciously by the Cathy Hart fan club on things that would ordinarily be ignored. I am not going to try and defend the lip gloss. The bottom line is that she has consistently provided the proper vote totals to the right state officials at the right time. None of the elections on her watch have been challenged. So basically, she has done her job.

There is an unknown variable in this race that makes it impossible to predict and that is Cathy Hart, who was fired by Clem earlier this year. The key question is how many Republican voters will sway to Stewart so that Hart can have her old job back. This is the key to the election. Even if Stewart wins, he loses, knowing that on day one the person who helped him get elected is beginning her campaign to take his job. He will be the Supervisor of Elections in name only and will constantly be looking over his shoulder for worry of a possible stab in the back. This will not provide a pleasant working environment for anyone in the elections office. It will likely be ugly and inefficient. Clem v. Stewart? Clem. Clem v. Stewart/Hart? Who knows.

Well, there you have it. Max Newport’s take on most of the local elections. I don’t know enough about the hospital board, mosquito control or land district to make any kind of prediction. As far as the Vero Beach City Council is concerned, it could be a long night for Tom White. I am not big on amending the constitution. Most, if not all, of the proposed changes can be made legislatively if they are that important. If the legislators are afraid to take a stand on controversial issues, they should not take it to the voters to change the constitution. Six proposed amendments is absurd. Amendments to the constitution should be few and far between less they lose significance. If they keep it up, the Florida Constitution will take on the heft of a statute book.

If you haven’t voted yet, do it so that you can rightfully be as cynical as Max. To all the candidates . . . Max wishes you all the best of luck.


Now, where is my lighter?






Of course y'all know Miss Vero will be adding our two cents tomorrow. Ok, that's right, much more than just two cents, so stay tuned.

MWAH!


missvero@live.com

TIMING IS EVERYTHING!

And now, the continuing story of "Vero Daze", a soap opera serial brought to you by the makers of Demdefeat - "Just smear away those pesky Democrats!" Works on Liberals too! Now available in old school aerosol packaging!

SETTING:

Early evening. Interior of a recreational vehicle parked in an

undisclosed location in Indian River County:

IRC GOP (Greedy Ole Party) member #1:

Hey, boys this fella Stewart is lookin way too smart

and thar's even a chance he might get elected.

Y'all know we need to keep that thar 6 figure job on the team and in the coffers.

IRC GOP member #2:

What???!!! What in a pigs eye are y'all talkin 'bout Cletus, thar's no way

a Dem person of color is evah gonna be 'lected in these here parts!

IRC GOP member #1:

Weel Poot, that thar whatcha sayin, mighta been true a few years ago,

but with that dadgum real estate boom, a whole lotta new folks that can read done moved into the county and they ain't with the program, heck somum don't even go to church!

IRC GOP member # 3:

Now boys, don't y'all go gettin y'all's tail in a knot, we done got this whole mess taken care of. All we gotta do is make a call to that thar lobby firm we been payin good money to, they gots them a few ways of diggin up some mud just before the election to put peoples mind back on our side.

IRC GOP member #1:

But what about that newspaper, they done already endorsed him in the primary for his party?

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/jul/24/our-choice-for-election-chief-democrat/

IRC GOP member #3:

Dang Cletis, ain't nobody gonna memba that. Besides, ain't nobody gonna go lookin for any truth in the matter 'cept for what we give em - and that includes that "newspaper". They ain't got no spine boys, they'll print what we give 'em. Heck, even that thar Jewish editor is a Republican, now don't that beat all?

IRC GOP member # 1

A Jewish Republican!!?? That' ain't right, I believe it goes against the laws of nature!

IRC GOP members #1, #2, #3

(histerical laughter)

IRC GOP member #1

Ayright, we done got that figured out, now what are we gonna do 'bout Miss Vero?

IRC GOP member #2

Everybody got a price, we'll just pay her to hush up, how much y'all figure it gonna cost?

IRC GOP member #3

How much we got?

IRC GOP members #1, #2, #3

(collective sigh)

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

JA, WE HAD A GUTT TIME!

As always, the Epicenter of Cool - Undertow and our fabulous hostess Miss Kitty, brought out some fun folks on Sunday afternoon for October Fest. Miss Vero just loves meeting new and interesting people and this was the perfect party for that. What a great mix! - from our favorite Flight Safety flyboys, to a world travelin sailing couple recently back to Vero after 5 months on the high seas, to Kevin Sawnick, a young politician running for Vero Beach City Council:
http://sawnick.com/


Honestly kids, we are exhausted from all the activity over the weekend. but not complaining, because finally we are seeing a lot a fun in our little town. A big MWAH to Mr. Michael Haskins and his good friend radio big guy, Bob Soos! Somewhere in between our cocktailin and appointments we have found time to dive into Mr. Haskins book, which is taking us to Key West (where we'd much rather be). If y'all couldn't make it to the book signing, there's still the Amazon box at the right that never closes and will be happy to deliver to y'all's mailbox.

Now, we hope y'all were paying attention to all the activities we talked about because, Miss Vero tries to attend and support each and every one. we are not just postin all this information and not participatin and we hope y'all will come out too.


POLITICS AS USUAL

A lot of political e mails comin in and we are siftin and sortin them all out. We just have to tell y'all that the accusations of Republican corruption and control in Indian River County seem to be the general theme.

Two things we're watching - the meeting tonight determining (perhaps) the Tax Collector outcome. A faithful Beach House guest wonders if Miss CJJ's brochures at the Republican Men's Club meeting at Quail Valley, Friday, was just a slight bit tacky? Guess we'll all see if that marketing material had any influence.

And - the hot contest to clean up the Supervisor of Elections Office. Miss Vero hears that the local G.O.P. refuses to allow a Democrat in any position in this county and is willing to go to great lengths to prevent losing any 6 figure position from it's team. But here's the big question - are they going to go so low as to smear a Democrat with hardly relevant documents from years ago and will the PJ be their willing sling shot for the mud? Pay attention kids and stay away from the fan.



OUR HEART GOES OUT TO YOU

Miss Vero would like to take a moment to send our condolences to our friend, Mr. Rhett Palmer, who lost his beloved mother on Friday.



Now, we must skedaddle off to lunch today with one of our favorite Vero story tellers -
"Mr. Muse of the World".

Oh wait, the phone's ringing, let's see who it is - McCain Headquarters! Hmmm, yup, think we'll take that call...

Lot's more poop and scoops tomorrow, see y'all then!
MWAH!


missvero@live.com

MISS VERO'S ABSINTHE PROGRAM

Yes, the Absinthe flowed last night at the Epicenter of Cool - Undertow. The Cutest Boy in Vero was on hand (It wouldn't be a party without Ziggy), to carefully place the sugar cubes and drip the ice water into the green liquid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe

Thank you so much to all of our wonderful friends, old and new, who attended our little soiree last night and celebrated Miss Vero's hundred days of bloggin and co-inky-dinkly our birthday.

Secret Squirrel, Palm Beach Playboy, Count and Countess du Roseland, Miss B. Havior, Bless Ur Heart, Dr. John, Lady Diane, Lord Albert and Lawdy Mama all were in attendance, in addition to Miss Barbara, Jeremy and Darcy, Rita, Sylvia, Ken - again, thank y'all so much!

And of course Miss Kitty! The appetizers were more than generous and soooo extra yummy. We wanted to eat the entire party size plate of shrimp all by our selves! We can't even tell you exactly how they were prepared, because they are not on the menu and Miss Kitty made them special for us, but kids honestly, the shrimp were tropically seasoned perfectly and the dipping sauce was so fabulous that we could have eaten it with a spoon!

A special thank you to Mr. Rhett Palmer for letting us post his he-lar-ious video yesterday and for wishing us a happy b-day! What a good sport.

Now if y'all were paying attention, y'all know that Miss Vero will be shutting down the blog today and relaunching on October 1st with the new -

Miss Vero's Beach House .com!

So put it on y'all's calendar and be prepared cause we have a lot of new, fun, gossipy things that we know y'all are gonna love. Now, we still need y'all's help, so if there's anything you'd like to send us please do it NOW. and if you have something you'd like to advertise, let us know NOW. And if you would like a political endorsement, please ask us NOW.

Speaking of political endorsements, we have just made out a check to the campaign of Mr. Colman Stewart. We don't believe that the office of Supervisor of Elections has anything to do with being Republican or Democrat, but we do believe that the dignified way in which Mr. Stewart is conducting himself, is to be commended and we sure would like to see him bring that style of management to the office.

So there y'all have it.

Remember, new site launches two weeks from today, see y'all there!

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

SEASON OPENS WHILE WE "COUNT" OUR BLESSINS...

" The Countess and Count du Roseland"

Well, if this weekend was any indication of the "season" starting it's going to be one heck of a run. Friday afternoon's mail contained our ticket subscription to Riverside Theater and we are certainly looking forward to La Cage Aux Folles in the line up. In addition, the season's playbill -the saucy glossy Vero Beach Magazine - arrived listing every event that we'll probably avoid.

First to return to the area (in Miss Vero's unique social world) are Lady Diane and Lord Albert, who shared lethal cocktails and Ingmar Bergman movies, Friday night. So great was the toxicity of the libations, that Miss Vero could not raise her head until Saturday afternoon. Lady Diane must be using some sort of metric system when pouring, not that we're complainin of course.

The exquisite Countess and Count du Roseland have returned from their nips and tucks in Swiss miss land and are looking positively youthful (with apologies to Miss Arbus). Thank goodness Miss B.Havior replaced all the alkeehol in the cabinet before the royal couple took inventory.

Important local restaurateur holds a fabulous party at their home last night, where Miss Vero was introduced to other fabulous restaurateurs. We begin to plan our calendar for upcoming cocktail and foodie parties. Yum.

And while all that fun stuff is going on in the "real" world of Vero, there's even more happenin in the internet world, where we are virtually meeting all kinds of new friends.

Our new friend and gentleman, Mr. Tim Pipher sent Miss Vero a lovely thank you for our post on Friday. News about his studio and upcomin projects are now spreading quickly.

Apparently Miss Vero's word carries some weight and here's just a sample of the blogs and sites we've been recently linked to:

Local artist Miss Francesca Signorelli offers us a calming spot to rest on the internet, with kind words for Miss Vero:

http://francescasignorelli.blogspot.com/

Adorable (and musically talented!) Paul Kitchen gives us a great nod and a wink:

http://vero-beach-real-estate.org/2008/09/05/cocktails-and-pea-shooters-in-vero-beach/

While he even brings tunes to the party (that Paul, he's just so thoughtful, we are definitely developing a huge crush, because earthy musicians have been known to make us completely lose our mind):
http://verotube.com/

And our very smart and sensible friend Jeremy Walworth's site will be featured in the new issue of Cosmogirl! ("be sure and look at pg 28 for a mention of HairForecast.com"), this bit of news comes to us via Twitter which we are still trying to get the hang of:

http://twitter.com/

http://hairforecast.com/

Miss Vero is now enjoying a high google ranking (remember the days kids, when we couldn't get google to notice us?) thanks to all our friends near and far.

We mention our readers and friends today in the sincere hope that the Beach House stays a friendly and welcoming place. Yes, we "skewer" the PJ food critic (uh, yeah ok, the last "boiling of land crab" article and lobster review in the PJ, make our barbs well deserved). And yes, we love to "roast" Mr. Lemmon" for coming late to a party that he was never invited. And then of course, there's all the lovely local politicians and our favorite self proclaimed "mayor of the airwaves" Rhett Palmer. But honestly, we do not have any ill will towards any of these people.

Now, ifin y'all want to rant and rave go right ahead, but from now on, we think we'll just have to take ourselves off the comment playground. We certainly do not believe in censorship of any kind, so go ahead, rules be damned, it looks like there's some things y'all need to get offa your minds. Unlike Mr. Lemmon, will will not chase the "cyberpunks" offa our lawn.

It sure would be nice if y'all would follow the lead of Miss B. Havior and posted a picture and became an "official" Miss Vero follower. Blessurheart, your next right?

STILL ON THE RADAR -

The primary election fiasco and the continual discrepancies, uh, reports emerging from Miss Kay Clem's office.

The brilliant Mr. Ken Moskowitz (who Miss Vero remembers fondly and Mr. Moskowitz might just remember Miss Vero) is Mr. Colman Stewart's campaign manager and has the PDF of Mr. Stewart's press conference available. We are unable to print this type of file on blogger, but Mr. Moskowitz is working to get it up on their site and we're sure if y'all are interested, he'll send it:

http://www.electcolmanstewart.com/

Well, thank goodness we limited ourselves to just a "few" at last night's soiree!

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

PRESS JOURNAL POLITICS

Russ Lemmon Searches For His Next Big Story

Today's offering from Mr. Lemmon -

"Wanted:Red Cross Volunteers"

What's that ? Might be a hurricane a comin? DUH! Welcome to Florida. Thank y'all so much for this public service "opinion". Now that the primaries are over, looks like Mr. Lemmon has finished slingin his Bob Evans hash.

Diana Foote searches for a new word in the dictionary to impress us

Today's offering from Miss Foote -

"With a flourish, our waitstaff discreetly informed us of the arrival of the Maine lobsters and I ordered my pound-and-a-half ($26.99) with alacrity. It arrived properly steamed and still steaming, the optimum moment to begin cracking the claws and walking legs, and sucking the tender, ambrosial meat."

Can y'all guess which restaurant she's talkin about? Jack Baker's Lobster Shanty! We'll give y'all a minute to stop laughing before we continue....

AND MISS VERO IS STILL SEARCHING FOR THE NEWS!

Where is the report of Mr. Colman Stewart's press conference?

Mr. Stewart informs us that -

"A total of 6 candidates, in 3 different races, were missing from the ballot in the recently certified primary election."

This is serious news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is Miss Vero the only person in this county concerned with this issue? Kids, we sent our posse in and here's what what we know -

There was a dismal turnout of our "elected" officials to hear Mr. Stewart speak. Joe Flescher (not running for office this year) was the only County Commissioner that stayed throughout the press conference, although he seemed to be "visitin" with folks more than payin attention.

Wesley Davis showed up late, talked on his cell phone outside and then stayed for about all of three minutes. Somebody ought a tell that bubba that large horizontal striped shirts are not a good fashion choice for him. Oh. Never mind we just did.

Miss Bea Gardner and Miss Cathy Hart listened attentively. A representative from Captain Bill McMullen's office was also payin attention, while Duurrrrll Loar was spotted outside parkin his Jeep, but no where near the press conference.

And the PJ? Y'all think that maybe they'd be on hand to cover a story about a candidate they endorse? Nope.

Will there be any follow up? Dunno.

Must self medicate heavily today, martinis intravenously we think.

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

VEGAS ODDS ON CRIST HITCH - 20 TO 1

GUBNA CHARLIE LAST WEEK

Uh, excuse me, John, I got engaged for you...

GUBNA CHARLIE THIS WEEK

Well at least, the only skeleton in my closet is me...

Thought we could use a little humor today (as always, thank you Republicans). My Goodness children, after all the antics on the comment playground yesterday, Miss Vero thought we'd hafta separate y'all. We certainly did not want to bring up the Miss Gloria thing again, but that seems to be a hot button, that we will from now on avoid. Our issue is still the primary election snafu, that is happening now and we predict will be a problem again in the November election.

We hear Mr. Colman Stewart will be addressing the subject today and we urge y'all to go out and hear what is said (and report back to us!):
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/sep/03/irc-elections-candidate-schedules-press-conference/

Now excuse us while we answer the giant pile of emails that y'all have sent (thank you, thank you!) and plan a little sumthin for y'all in celebration of our hundred days of blogging, which we have determined will be September 16th. That is a special day for Miss Vero and we believe some sort of festivities are in order. Let's all put our glad pants on and find a way to party together.

Any suggestions?

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

JUST AS WE SUSPECTED..

So, Miss Vero went on a little vay-cay to a hip place to party and let all the thoughts of Indian River County election snafu leave our brain. Surely by the time we got back, questions would be addressed and problems would be solved but - no! Once again we were right (and oh how tiring that gets), not another mention of it. Are we the only one still bothered by the primary election mess? Not if our emails are any indication, but our "newspaper", instead of challenging the issue, has our local "journalist" proudly switchin parties and joining in the process! (y'all know if you're not part of the solution...)

This is a serious issue kids and although Miss Vero likes to not take things so serious, this is something that we all need to pay close attention to. Here's a video from the Daily Show that was pointed out by "cyberpunks" to Mr. Lemmon"s column on Sunday.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=113952&title=slow-voter-turnout

Miss Clem nervously looks as though she's on 60 minutes rather than The Daily Show. Sense of Humor? None detected. Clue about The Daily Show? Nope. Reassuring to her constituents? Not even close.


Y'all know that Mr. Lemmon annoys us, but when he makes such pomp -ass statements such as these, we begin to get more insulted than annoyed, here's a little sample from Sunday;

"Colman Stewart must be living right."
"He now has a legitimate shot of becoming Indian River County's supervisor of elections."
"Never mind the last time a Democrat prevailed in countywide voting was 1990."

"Living right"?? A 'legitimate" shot??!! Oh that's right, he was still a republican when he wrote that, no wonder. today he's switched back to NPA.

The voting situation in Indian River and Palm Beach Counties using Sequoia voting systems have made headlines on the web in Daily Voting News and Bradblog (thanks to a very alert Miss Vero Fan, who emailed us!):
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6347#more-6347

Here's just a little quote from writer John Gideon of votersunite.org, that we find enlightening;

"Now, I’m not saying that Sequoia is to blame for the problems of the past week. Unlike Sequoia I don’t set blame until I have evidence to back it up. Besides the Indian River plan of testing a modem down-load system in the middle of a real election was bone-headed and seems to be the fault of the administrators."

So, yes Mr. Lemmon, it does seem that Mr. Coleman Stewart has a "legitimate" chance of being viable in this election.



MORE MAIL THAT CAME OUR WAY

Miss Vero had a big ole pile of email come in over the weekend and one interesting letter was from Mr. Charlie Wilson. Now y'all know we like to keep our emails private, but since Mr. Wilson said "Just for the record" , well...

"Just for the record, I am single and I do not leer at women, I "admire" women. It only seems like I see alot only because I am such a bad date no one wants to go with me twice. Also in the interest of journalistic integrity I prefer redheads not blonds."

Miss Vero has three things to say about that.

#1 Yeah! Mr. Wilson has a sense of humor and is not afraid to contact Miss Vero, we sure do like that!

#2 Mr. Wilson used the term "journalistic integrity" when referring to Miss Vero's musings, we really like that!

#3 And finally, now we feel compelled to find an attractive redhead for Mr. Wilson to "admire". Any takers? Why is Mr. Wilson such a bad date? Why does he know he's a bad date? Perhaps Miss Vero needs to give Mr. Wilson some pointers. Hmmm, let's see...nope, nothin comin to mind, can we get some help here?

Another email that came our way, let us know that Miss Sandra Bowden is doing fine but can't help but wonder what role Mr. Lemmon played in her demise with his continual Gloria Estefan stories that abruptly ended when Mrs. Estefan announced her south Florida concert plans.

Let's review shall we kids?

Say what y'all will about Miss Bowden, yes, she voted not to have the concert after the hurricanes, and everything she actually said is in the minutes of that meeting , if everyone will take the time to read the damn thing. (see July 30th post, Fishin With Lemmon"). But she has been a part of the community here for over 40 years and if y'all like her or not that's fine, but who in the H.E. double toothpicks is Russ Lemmon to report this story in such a cavalier manner? If y'all were expecting responsible journalism and good manners, y'all better look elsewhere, his mudslingin was so fierce y'all woulda thought he was running against her.

After Mrs. Estefan announced her plans (weeks before the primary) to hold a concert at the Hard Rock, Mr. Lemmon dropped his "idea" to work with Mrs. Estefan like a nuclear hot potato.

And draggin out an old press junket story from June to make it sound like Mr. Lemmon had been granted an exclusive interview in July has been trumped by the more in depth and informative interview Mr. Milton R. Benjamin published in the current issue of VeroBeach32963:
http://www.verobeach32963.com/news/090308.htm


Yes hunnies, Miss Vero is back and has promptly returned to our ole vinegar veined self. We're still siftin through that inbox and we have a lot for y'all this week. A LOT.

No need for the bloody marys today, we are drunk with information!


MWAH!


missvero@live.com

GRUMPY OLE RUSS

"You cyber punks stay offa my column!"

Miss Vero is noticing a little age perspective creepin into Mr. Lemmon's columns lately. Yesterday he was rattled by "anonymous cyberpunks" that "take cheap shots" and suggested that, in using something he wrote in her campaign mailing, Miss Cathy Hart was "stealing" from him (he should be flattered). Last week he was praising a kid who walked in the rain to school because, in his day, he walked in rain, sleet and snow to school. Before the primary he registered republican (tryin to fit in around here?) and a couple of months ago he announced that he received his AARP card (now he probably asks for a discount at Bob Evans). But what is worse, like an old timer set in his ways, he is not paying attention to what people are screaming at him. Just take a look y'all, at the comments by "anonymous cyberpunk" jsteel about what's going on at the hospital and it makes you wonder why some one isn't addressing these concerns. At least it made us wonder.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/aug/24/30gtdirection-county-will-take-to-be-revealed/?feedback=1#comments

MEDICAL MYSTERIES

There are quite a few things Indian River County is infamous for and besides political corruption, one is the arrogant ways of the medical community. If indeed, Mr. Lemmon searched out some current employees of the hospital to talk to he would have a hard time getting information, why? Well, here's what Miss Vero heard :

• The hospital staff must sign a contract to not speak with the media while employed
• The union has a contract that guarantees not to strike against the hospital
• The current and former CEO is given a club membership to highly exclusive local golf and country clubs
• There is/was such a thing as the "Golden Eagles" club, where big benefactors were/are promised superior care
• The hospital is in the business of providing the illusion that it gives the beach community above board care, hence the DUKE name and it's well connected CEO and the donations pour in.
  
  True? Heck if we were a "real journalist" and not an "anonymous cyberpunk" we'd find out for sure.

BE THERE NOW

After someone spoke in place of someone who could not attend the luncheon on Saturday, an innocent request to a room full of women was greeted with a wave of laughter - "Is there anyone else here, who would like to talk about someone who isn't here?"

The only female candidates on tomorrow's ballot in Indian River County that did NOT attend the NOW luncheon were Miss Cathy Hart, Miss Kay Klem and Miss Rene Hamblin, all running for the Elections Supervisor office.

And speakin of the Supervisor of Elections office, here's a story told to Miss Vero by one of our regular church goin friends. Seems like our friend just realized that the gentleman he's been sitting in front of, behind and next to in church for the last two years is Mr. Colman Stewart. And during all that time and through many conversations, not once has Mr. Stewart mentioned that he is running for office. We sincerely appreciated the way the Mr. Stewart appropriately places his faith and politics and feel that he has set an example for others to follow. We wish him success in his bid for Supervisor of Elections. http://www.electcolmanstewart.com/

SOME PERSONAL NOTES

Happy Birthday Week to the Palm Beach Playboy who's big weekend bash we are eagerly lookin forward to.

Miss B. Havior - girl, you'd better get that liquor we drank up last night replaced before the Count and Countess return home from nips and tucks in Swiss Miss Land.

And somehow during our very busy, busy weekend, Miss Vero decided we would take a tour of the homes going on the auction block at Antilles. Yes, they are very, very nice homes, however we have a great concern over the legal goin on's of the community. Not that we're a "real journalist", but we sure would look into this story:

http://www.clerk.indian-river.org/Records/ByName.aspx

(type in Colonial Bank and the date 7/31/08 in search)

Should be an interesting week kids, can't wait to see how the primary turns out tomorrow, don't forget to vote!

MWAH!

missvero@live.com